Los Angeles Valley College, Spring 2009 K.L. Ross, DrKelley@AOL.com
Philosophy 20, Ethics Office: Campus Center 224
Th 6:45-9:55 PM (3323), CC 205 Phone: (818) 947-2467
http://www.friesian.com/valley/
SYLLABUS
TEXTS:Ethnic America, Thomas Sowell
The Analects, Confucius
Affirmative Action Around the World, Thomas Sowell
Life at the Bottom, Theodore Dalrymple (suggested)
Handouts for this class can be purchased in booklets at the
Campus Bookstore, or they can be examined and downloaded from the
World Wide Web, with some web links and extra graphics, at:
http://www.friesian.com/valley/#20CONTENTS: The course is intended as a survey of the theory and some
practical issues of ethics and value theory. Besides the common concern
of ethics courses with moral obligation and moral problems, emphasis
will also be placed on the nature of value: how matters of value exists
and how we know it. There is probably less emphasis on various moral
problems in this class than in other ethics classes, since I don't see
much point in arguing about moral problems unless we have some clue
about the principles that would enable us to solve them.
Unit 1: Discussion of moral dilemmas and some basic principles of
capitalism. Dilemmas in handout. Tentative quiz, March 12
Unit 2: The nature of ethics and of value. Basic distinctions in ethics,
how value is known, the objectivity or subjectivity of value, etc.
Tentative midterm, April 23
Unit 3: Various historical theories in ethics. Selections from The
Analects, plus handouts. Tentative quiz, May 21
Unit 4: Moral Problems. Selected topics as time permits. Ethnic America
and Affirmative Action Around the World, plus handouts. Possible topics:
capitalism, socialism, discrimination, affirmative action, abortion,
sexual ethics, capital punishment, etc. Final Exam, 7:00 PM, Thursday,
June 4, CC 205.
ATTENDANCE: This is primarily a lecture class: tardiness and absences
thus will result in missing material that cannot be found in the texts
or in other sources. The texts are primary sources which are not
self-explanatory; and you will not find what I say in encyclopaedia
articles or in most other books. Believe me, you will not do well in
the class unless you are present for the lectures or arrange to obtain
lecture notes, and it is your responsibility to arrange with others
to obtain the materials for classes that you miss. You may tape
record lectures.
After the third week attendance is no longer taken for each class
meeting. However, attendance will be taken occasionally and randomly,
and students with more than a week of absences may be excluded for
non-attendance. Do not report absences to me. It is your own
responsibility to drop the class if you wish to do so (final drop date:
May 8/10th). Anyone on the roster at the end of the semester
who has not been present for the tests will receive an F. It is your
responsibility to obtain from other students any material or assignments
you miss when absent. If you miss any examinations, including the due
date for take home exams, and you return within the period when a makeup
is allowed, you must be prepared to take the test, or hand in any
materials, promptly at the beginning of the class on the day you return.
Holidays this semester are Presidents' Day, February 13 & 16; Chavez Day,
March 31; Spring Break, April 6-10; and Memorial Day, May 25.
The last day of classes is June 1.
Note well: Anyone who persistently disrupts my class by talking,
arriving late, repeatedly leaving & returning, or through any other
distracting or inconsiderate behavior may be instructed to leave the
class. If you do not want to be here, don't come in the first place.
OFFICE HOURS: My office hours are MW 7:30-8:00 & 11:10-11:45 AM,
TuTh 6:30-6:45 PM, and by appointment in CC 224. The phone number is
(818) 947-2467. This is a direct line, and no one else will answer
the phone. You should call during office hours. If you call at
other times, you can leave messages on voicemail. You do not need to
report absences, or your reasons for them, by voicemail. Do not leave
messages for me to call you, without the times you can be reached at
your number. I will not return calls if all you want is to be brought
up to date for classes you have missed. Just return to class. Any
inquiries by e-mail can be answered within a couple of days:
DrKelley@AOL.com. Identify the class in the subject line of the
e-mail.
TESTS: There will be one midterm exam, two quizzes, and a final. The
quizzes will be multiple choice, but the other exams will include
multiple choice, short answer identifications, and essay questions. The
midterm will be a take-home test, with a brief multiple choice part
taken in class. The final exam will include a take-home essay, but the
in-class part will include another essay and the other kinds of
questions. It will be comprehensive. If you miss the final and cannot
take it at another time I have scheduled, you cannot make it up during
the current semester and will be credited with an F unless you request
an Incomplete--which you may do simply by leaving a message for me
before I turn in the grades.
Point values are assigned to grades as follows: F=0, D=3, C=6, B=9,
A=12. Minuses subtract one point, and pluses add one. A C+ is thus
worth 7. The midterm grade is worth 1/4 of the course grade, the
quizzes 1/8 each, and the final 1/2. The course grade is therefore
calculated in this way: {[2x(Midterm) + (Quiz I + Quiz II) +
4x(Final)]/8}. Missed tests or quizzes will count as F's unless made up.
For the purpose of the following rule, the grades of the two quizzes
will be combined. If that grade or the midterm grade (or an F for a
missed midterm) will be dropped if the grade is improved by the
substitution of the grade of the final with the penalty of one lettergrade (subtracting 3 points). For instance, an A+ (13) on the final
means that a midterm grade, or a combined quiz grade, lower than a B+
(10) is replaced with a B+. If the course grade is as much as 10 (B+),
without rounding, an A will be awarded. If a 7 (C+), a B; a 4 (D+), a
C; and a 1 (F+), a D.
In all the work you do in my classes, you are not expected to agree with
me on any issue; but you are expected to know what has been presented in
the course, both in the lectures and in the books, and to present
reasons or arguments for any views you wish to advocate. Outside
materials or opinions are welcome so long as they are not a substitute
for awareness or discussion of the materials of the course.
You are expected to do your own work, so do not prepare common essays
with your study partners. On a test, if I read an essay that I have
already read, I will grade it down, regardless of how the original
essay may be have been graded. Also, you may quote from my handouts in
essays, but it is not acceptable to write an essay that reproduces the
handouts verbatim, especially when it is without attribution. I reserve
the right to exclude or fail anyone who turns in work that they have not
done themselves, who plagiarizes, or who cheats in any other way.
WARNING: During the semester, one moral problem that I am particularly
interested in addressing is the moral basis of capitalism and the free
market. Despite the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989-91 and
the looming financial and other problems of European socialism, the
Canadian health care system, and American social welfare programs like
Social Security and Medicare, socialistic criticisms of capitalism and
the free market nevertheless are often credulously repeated, indeed
assumed, in academic or political discussions, and the moral case for
capitalism is rarely stated: one might think that a moral case for
capitalism is a contradiction in terms. This is not the case, as we
shall see. Two of the books for this class, by Thomas Sowell, are
about the economic progress of ethnic groups, both in the United States
and internationally, and about the moral and political issues that
arise concerning this.